Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD: “Bear in mind now, O LORD, I implore you, how I’ve walked earlier than you in faithfulness with a complete coronary heart, and have carried out what is nice in your sight.”
“The prophet Isaiah cried to the LORD…”
Whenever you pray, the place do you start? What’s the topic, and what’s the object? This prayer by Hezekiah has some essential classes to show concerning the focus and move of prayer.
Background
It’s unclear when this episode came about, nevertheless it appears to be across the time that God delivered Judah and King Hezekiah from Sennacherib and his Assyrian military.
King Hezekiah is sort of sick. The prophet Isaiah involves him and tells him that he won’t get higher. He ought to get his affairs so as and put together to die. Hezekiah turns his face to the wall and prays that God won’t let him die. He reminds God that he has been devoted and carried out nicely. He needs to be saved. Commentators are arduous on Hezekiah, writing that his prayer is pouty and self-serving. I’m wondering how they might react in the identical state of affairs. Hezekiah was solely 39 years outdated.
Nonetheless, he’s the chief of the folks, and we anticipate extra from a king. Once we examine this to his response when Israel was in peril from Assyrian, we see a king who sulks and cries, not the king of power we’ve got examine earlier than.
As Isaiah is on his approach again dwelling, God tells him to return and inform Hezekiah he’ll grant his prayer. Isaiah returns to the king with the excellent news. In three days he can be utterly healed, and he’ll reside for fifteen years extra. God additionally says that he’ll save Judah and defend town—for God’s personal sake and for David.
The phrases from God are key. Regardless of what Hezekiah prayed, God says he isn’t doing it due to Hezekiah’s faithfulness and goodness. He’s doing it for his personal sake and for David’s. Hezekiah’s prayer was centered on himself and his state of affairs—God corrects him. The main focus needs to be on God and his bigger plans.
Nonetheless, Hezekiah isn’t happy. So He asks Isaiah for an indication that he actually can be healed in three days. The signal of three days isn’t sufficient—he desires an indication to show the signal! Isaiah prays, and God grants this prayer as nicely. Hezekiah receives his fast signal.
That means
Our weak and restricted humanity typically makes us self-centered. In our prayers, we usually have a tendency to start with ourselves and our state of affairs, after which transfer to the Bible and God to search out our solutions. Simply as Hezekiah was centered on his illness, he requested God to heal him, and reminded him of Hezekiah’s personal good works.
That is backwards. Higher to start with God and his Phrase. Search understanding and begin with His character and His plan. Then apply it to our state of affairs. This may occasionally appear to be a delicate distinction. Think about this instance. I as soon as knew a person who had simply had his first little one. It affected his life so positively that it affected his theology. He started instructing everybody who would perceive that fatherhood was an ideal solution to perceive God as our heavenly father. “Take a look at how you’re keen on your children,” he would say. “You’ll do something for them—you’d sacrifice for them.” That is true, in fact, and I don’t disagree. However what of somebody who had a horrible father? A father who deserted them, or beat them? They could perceive fatherhood as an idea, however will probably be troublesome for them to make use of their father as a solution to perceive God.
As an alternative, start with God. He’s the mannequin for the proper earthly father. These of us who’re fathers ought to say, “How can I mimic God as a father?” In different phrases, I received’t use my fatherhood to know God; slightly, I exploit God to know my fatherhood. That is higher as a result of not all fathers are correct fathers. However God is. So I begin with God after which transfer to me and my state of affairs.
Hezekiah’s perspective in prayer was wrong-headed. His perspective was egocentric, specializing in himself slightly than God and the larger image. But God answered his prayer anyway—although not with no correction. “It’s not about you, Hezekiah, it’s about me and my good plans for people.”
Software
There are three classes on this prayer.
- Start with God—attempt to see the massive image. Use that perspective to deal with your state of affairs with Him.
- God typically solutions our prayers, even once we might not deserve it due to a egocentric or pouty perspective. He loves us regardless.
- God would possibly use the reply to prayer to show or appropriate us. That is usually troublesome to see. A prayer journal may help, for we evaluation what we prayed for, what our perspective was, and the reply obtained. Is there one thing in that reply that could be a corrective to our perspective? Or one thing within the reply that teaches us?
Simply as God is the creator and middle of all that exists, He needs to be the start line for our personal prayers.
- There are different locations in scripture the place folks doubt the phrases coming from God, and ask for mores indicators. See Gideon’s a number of request for an indication “Testing God (Judg 6.22, 36–37, 39–40, 7.15)“; see additionally Jesus’ therapeutic of the paralytic in Mark 2.1-12. ↩
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